Travel

I've decided that perhaps I would be super awesome at having a baby. Not because of any increasing maternal instincts or anything, but because the first thing people always tell you about having a baby is how sleep-deprived you're going to be, and I have become rather adept at handling sleep deprivation over the years that I've traveled.

I'm leaving for vacation on Friday night, where I will spend a week in London seeing family and friends, plus two days in Paris eating my weight in bread and cheese. You might think I'm joking about that second part, but I have spent the last ten days abstaining from both so that when I fall off the wagon in Paris---and I will inevitably fall off the wagon in Paris, I mean come on: it's Paris---the transgression will be that much sweeter. Hey, if you're going to fail, might as well fail big, right? Baguettes, I'm coming for you first!

Ah, Valentine's Day, a time for love and romance, right? A time to book a spontaneous trip to Paris for two---to Paris in the springtime, no less!

Yes, I did just that: I booked a trip next month to Paris. The City of Love! I booked a trip to the place where romance hides in every Eiffel Tower sunset, lingers in every late-night dinner of steak frites. I booked this trip on Valentine's Day. But I didn't book it for me and Sean. Oh no, I booked it for me and my sister.

Oh you guys, Vanuatu. How can I tell you about Vanuatu? It feels like a beautiful dream I had a long time ago, the sort of thing that's only hazily real. Often now, I catch myself thinking "Was there actually once a time where I did nothing but kayak lazily in the morning, sunbathe gratuitously all afternoon, read a novel a day, and fall asleep to the sound of the ocean lapping at the sand?"

This is part two of the Sydney portion of our honeymoon, which for some reason I still insist on recapping, even though it happened, like, two months ago and no-one really cares. Part one is here, and the Melbourne portion is here. Also, there are lots of photos. Are you still awake? Oh good, let's begin.

Wait! I didn't even tell you my favorite thing about our time in Melbourne! Well, alright, maybe it wasn't my favorite thing about our time in Melbourne, but it did warm the cockles of my heart a little and considering Melbourne was absolutely freezing for the duration of our stay, anything that warmed the cockles of anything was alright with me.